Keystone Oaks High School student Alexander Grattan’s short film about lead pipes contaminating Pittsburgh’s water supply won first place in the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest, organized by Green Community Connections in Chicago, Illinois.

Alex’s six-minute film focused mainly on the 17,750 residential water connections throughout the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority’s service territory that contain lead, the health issues associated with lead poisoning, and how Pittsburgh can learn from other cities to remove all of its lead water pipes.

The goal of the One Earth Film Festival is to engage students in a discussion about sustainability and to challenge them to think about solutions.

“I decided to focus on water because it is an important part of Pittsburgh’s identity and because the issue of lead contamination has gotten a lot of media attention,” Alex said. “I didn’t realize the true scope of the problem until I started to research the topic for this video contest.”

Alex’s film was chosen from more than 100 entries submitted by students throughout the country. He will receive a $350 scholarship and Pittsburgh United’s Our Water Campaign will receive a $350 matching donation.